Fredricks v. John Doe "C.O."
- Laura Swain
- 1:22-cv-10092
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Fredricks v. John Doe “C.O.”, Judge Swain ordered payment or an IFP application within 30 days before processing the case.
Nigel Fredricks must either pay the required fees or submit the specified application and prisoner authorization within 30 days for the case to continue processing. The defendant was not required to answer at this stage.
What happened
In Fredricks v. John Doe “C.O.”, Nigel Fredricks filed a civil lawsuit without paying the required fees or submitting the forms needed to request permission to proceed without paying fees upfront. The order says Fredricks is incarcerated and representing himself.
The court gave Fredricks 30 days to either pay $402 or submit a signed application and prisoner authorization. The authorization permits installment deductions from his prison account for the $350 filing fee. No answer from the defendant was required at that time, and the court stated that the action would be dismissed if Fredricks did not comply.
Judge Laura Taylor Swain also denied permission to proceed without paying fees for any appeal from this order, certifying that such an appeal would not be taken in good faith. The order did not address the underlying claims.
The detailed version
- Fredricks v. John Doe "C.O." · No. 1:22-cv-10092
- Laura Swain
- Nov. 29, 2022
Background
Nigel Fredricks filed this civil action against John Doe “C.O.” while incarcerated at Auburn Correctional Facility. The opinion states that Fredricks is representing himself. He submitted the complaint without paying the filing fees and without completing an application to proceed without prepaying fees or a prisoner authorization.
Court’s Order
The court explained that a prisoner filing a civil action must either pay $402 in fees—a $350 filing fee and a $52 administrative fee—or submit a signed application to proceed without prepaying fees and a prisoner authorization. If the application is granted, the $350 filing fee must still be collected in installments from the prisoner’s account. The authorization also directs the correctional facility to provide certified account statements for the preceding six months.
The court ordered Fredricks, within 30 days of the order, to either pay the $402 or submit the required application and authorization, labeled with docket number 22-CV-10092. The court stated that no answer was required at that time and that, if Fredricks complied, the case would be processed under the Clerk’s Office procedures. If he failed to comply within the allowed time, the action would be dismissed.
Appeal and Additional Notice
The court certified under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(3) that an appeal from the order would not be taken in good faith and denied permission to proceed without prepaying fees for an appeal. The attached forms explain the financial information required in the fee application and the installment-payment authorization. The order also cautions that certain future dismissals may count as strikes under the federal prisoner-litigation statute, although this order does not state that Fredricks has received a strike.
Disposition
The court directed Fredricks to pay the fees or submit the required forms within 30 days. It did not decide the merits of the underlying claims.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.